Orioles catcher Matt Wieters sitting out Friday's game with tight right biceps

Eduardo A. EncinaThe Baltimore Sun

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, mired in a 1-for-30 slump, is out of Friday night's starting lineup because of a tight right biceps.

"We want to make sure we can get that full go," Wieters said. "We think if we get a day off today and we'll be good to go tomorrow. We don't want a one-day tightness to turn into something more."

Wieters said he began feeling tightness in his arm going into his first at-bat Thursday and it grew worse throughout the game, especially on the tail end of his left-handed swings. He said the tightness has no impact on his throwing.

"That's the main reason why I was able to stay in the game, because I still felt I could throw fine and be able to help the team defensively somehow," he said. "Hopefully a day of treatment will knock it out and I'll be ready to go."

Wieters said he's never felt the soreness before.

"It's not really a concern," Wieters added. "We think it's just something that's a little bit of tightness that everybody gets over the course of a season."

Wieters, who said his slump had nothing to do with sitting out Friday's game, spent pregame in the Orioles video room watching film with special hitting instructor Terry Crowley. He said he hoped a day off would help him break out of his slump.

"I hope so," Wieters said. "Been watching video all year, just trying to get that swing locked in. Hopefully today I can just get more [away from the] mental strain and try to figure out the swing a little bit and be ready to go tomorrow."

Wieters, who is hitting .197 (14-for-71) with just three extra-base hits in the month of July, had been the Orioles' starting catcher in 80 of their 99 games this season heading into Friday.

Taylor Teagarden will catch in Wieters place, the second straight time he will catch left-hander Zach Britton, who threw six shutout innings against Cleveland in his last outing.